


The Stupidest Thing I've Ever Done

by Rae_chan



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anxiety, Depression, Lottery, M/M, Modern AU, Running Away, Writing Prompt, dead-mans lottery, leokumi - Freeform, suicidal thoughts mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 13:56:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9388106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rae_chan/pseuds/Rae_chan
Summary: Takumi hasn't done many stupid things in his life, not like Hinata, but one dare changes that.following this prompt from tumblr writing-prompt-s:"The Dead Man’s Lottery selects one lucky ticket holder per month. This person’s personal information is made public, and they must stay alive for 24 hours in order to win the money. If they are killed, the killer wins instead."





	

**Author's Note:**

> Inspiration hit with this prompt, hope you like it :3

All he could do was run, regretting the dare he had taken the night before. He had heard of the dead-man's lottery, even heard of a few winners, but he'd never counted on being one of those winners. It certainly didn't feel like winning.

 

Last night had been a casual get together, a bar situated in the neutral zone of The City of Three Dragons. His buddy Hinata and him had been comparing the stupidest things they had ever done, Hinata's impulsive nature pulled him ahead, having challenged a bouncer at a club in the Nohr district to a boxing match.

“This guy was huge!” Hinata threw his arms wide to punctuate his story, “First he looked a bit sorry for me, but then he got this look in his eyes like he really wanted to make an example of me,”

“It was because you bet him 100 dollars you idiot,” Azama butted in.

“Shhh, my version is better,” Hinata waved him off, “Anyway, he thought it would be an easy hundred, boy was he wrong. I think his expression after was much more fitting, utter defeat!”

“And a hint of anger,” Azama interrupted again.

“So you're treating me right?” He said with a chuckle, “Come on, mister moneybags,”

“Oh harr harr, Prince Takumi, we all know you could buy everyone in this bar a drink and then buy the bar,” Hinata jabbed him and they both laughed.

“What have I told you about calling me a prince,” Takumi snorted, “just because I happen to be the son of Hoshido district's top security firm's CEO, doesn't make me royalty,”

“Yeah sure, then tell me who really runs the district? Mayor Representative Yukimura?” he gave Takumi a knowing look, Takumi giving him a look to tell him to cool it, “Yeah, you know what I mean, your dad might not 'run the district', but he has influence,”

“Whatever, I don't think my tramping through the national park and almost falling off a cliff story can beat your bouncer tale, even if its embellished,” Takumi shrugged.

“Well do you want to win?” Hinata asked a smirk playing on his face. Takumi looked for a joke in there somewhere, but his friend looked serious.

“Okay shoot,” he nodded.

“Enter the Dead-man's lottery,” Hinata posed.

“What? Why would I do that?” Takumi sputtered.

“I dare you, do it and you win the title of stupidest thing ever done,” Hinata looked devious.

“No way dude, thats a death sentence,” Takumi brushed off weakly.

“Come on! There's like a one in a million chance you get chosen and the ballots get thrown out after the draw anyway, so you enter once and it's over really,” Hinata goaded. They went back and forth like that a couple times, Takumi denying it and Hinata urging him on.

“Okay fine, I'll do it, once,” Takumi groaned.

Hinata laughed and slapped him on the back, “Cool, I better see a stub tomorrow,”

 

Takumi dodged into an alley and ran the full length, looking for some other way to go. He hadn't counted on how dark the Nohrian district was in the mornings, it's many towering buildings blocking a lot of the sun light, the dull incandescent light from the streets not permeating this far. Perhaps the darkness would help him, he could find some dark hole and wait out his 24 hours. Not likely, unless he wanted to get down into the sewers, and he had heard of stories of hunters going down there and getting the winners anyway.

“What do I do?” he hissed to himself, not knowing anything but run. His preparatory hour had passed long ago and if he stopped now, he would only be more likely to be found. At the very least he had thought to throw on something inconspicuous, but his hair was a dead give away and when every advertisement screen in the city had his face plastered all over it, he would be noticed in an instant. He stopped briefly to rip out the tie and wind his long silver hair into a bun before throwing his hood back up.

 

The sun was up now, and even alleyways were lit enough for people to see him. It also meant rush hour, cause even today was still just a normal thursday, it just also happened to be the 13th of the month, the day of the dead-man's lottery, so even people rushing to work would still be looking, hoping that if they caught a glimpse of the winner, they could slip away to kill him before anyone else saw.

Takumi didn't really understand what even sparked this lottery in the first place, every month a winner was chosen and had 24 hours to run and hide and if they survived then they get money and a spot in the Dead-man's hall of fame. The catch was that if someone finds the winner and kills them, then the killer get's the money instead. Sadly, the Slayer's hall of fame was much more populated than the Dead-man's.

 

He had chosen to go to the Nohrian district to give himself more time to hide, but also he hoped so that he might not be recognized so easily. So far he had managed to slip briefly through populated areas unnoticed, trying his best to look normal. He eventually found a barred alleyway that at first glance had looked locked, but actually wasn't. Takumi decided it was his best chance for a rest, despite the only other way out being a fire escape around a corner. It would keep the common sort out, the hard-core hunter's would be much more clever. There was one door here, probably the back entrance of the insurance office out front, he hoped no one would be out for a smoke anytime soon, but even still, his eye's kept flicking towards the door like it might slam open any second now.

 

Takumi had taken too long and the door had opened, a worker with a trash bag. Takumi pinned himself against the back of the dumpster, hardly breathing, hoping the worker would throw it in and leave right away. He heard the lid creak open and the bag go in before it slammed and the man jumped back, his shadow crossing Takumi's hiding spot. His luck had it that the man had slammed a finger in the lid and was much too focused on his likely broken finger to see the 14 million dollar bounty behind the dumpster. Takumi had to let out the breath he had been holding when the man cursed and yelled his way back to the door before closing it. Takumi also heard the tell tale click of a lock, which he hoped meant he would have moment to calm his heart rate enough to get out of there.

 

“What are you going to do with the money when you win,” Oboro had teased the next day as Takumi showed her and Hinata the slip proving he had bought the ticket.

“Nothing, I won't get chosen,” He laughed.

“Seriously though, it's not like you need it,” she pressed.

“Seriously? I would donate it probably, cause I don't need it, I'd be more happy to be alive,” Takumi had said, “But again, I won't be chosen, so don't get your hopes set on being the receiving end of that donation,”

“Aww come on, please, I could rent a nice studio,” Oboro squealed.

“Yeah, then our apartment could be an apartment instead of a haunted house,” Hinata had joked, muttering, “Sheets everywhere,”

“They are not sheets, and I need to see my fabric to create,” Oboro snapped.

They had all laughed together before heading to their classes for that day, they really had just been joking around, as they always did, having been friends since childhood.

 

His first thought had been of them, going to them and beg them to hide him, because wouldn't they? They we're his friend right, they wouldn't kill him for money?

Would they?

His second thought had been that he couldn't possibly go to them, cause that would put them(him) in danger.

So he had run, gotten out of his neighborhood as quickly and using as many different streets as he could manage, he had used half of his allotted preparation hour doing this and the other half headed straight for the darkness of the Nohrian towers. The preparatory hour was given to give the winner a chance to get the notification that they were the winner and to give them a little bit of time to plan before their lives were on the line. No one was allowed to even touch a winner during that hour, or they would be instantly disqualified and possibly jailed, depending on the circumstances.

There had been and instance in the first few years where someone had grabbed and held the winner until the hour was past before killing them, they were charged with kidnapping, assault and murder, and the winnings ended up going to the winners family as next of kin condolence. After that people generally let the winner be until time was up, until a year later when it happened again. After the second incident the identity of the winner was kept secret until the hour was up, the advertisement screens displaying only an ominous red countdown that had made Takumi's blood run cold.

 

Another difficult to access alleyway provided another moments breather for him. He had glimpsed a sign on his way through the open, it had read 14:53:20. meaning he still had 15 hours to survive, and he was already exhausted. He hadn't had time to eat, he hadn't thought of it before he had dashed out of his flat that day. He was feeling it now, weighing the risk of popping into a coffee shop and grabbing something. Could he do it without being recognized? Not likely, acting the way he would have to, someone was bound to notice his nervousness and clue in, follow him and take the knife they had hidden for this very day and...

He wasn't hungry anymore. Instead he headed for the industrial part of Nohr, a place where not many people really worked, and a place with lots of places to hide. He could kill a few hours darting from place to place, but at least he could be stationary for longer periods than 5 or 10 minutes without feeling like he was going to get jumped. He passed through a residential area, mostly apartment buildings and a park.

 

Calling it a park was not quite what Takumi would do, this was more like a forest, with trees taller than most places, as if this part of the city had been built around it, but only a small section. Though small was not what this park was either, it had to be at least 20 acres of land. Takumi definitely took a good rest in one of the more densely branched trees, it wasn't comfortable and hard to get to, but it was also safe enough. He saved some energy by finding ways to go from tree to tree, as carefully as he could. His mind flashed an image of him missing a branch and falling, he shuddered, it could kill him, or it would leave him incapacitated and an easy kill for the bastard lucky enough to stumble upon him. He climbed down with that thought and dashed the rest of the way through the cover of the forest park. With only a few more apartment buildings to walk by, he could easily just walk down the street and straight to the industrial buildings, but eventually his paranoia overtook him, and he went for the alleyways.

Halfway down the alley of one of the more upscale buildings, a door opened behind Takumi. He tensed, but kept walking, willing the person not to take interest in him and just ignore him. As he walked, he heard their footsteps, at first they were uneven like someone pacing idly, but then they picked up quickly, headed straight for him. This was the end, this person had decided that he knew who he was.

Takumi wanted so badly to keep his pace, shake the suspicion, not bolt like he didn't want to die. His body had other ideas as his leg broke into a run, his mind running with it, wanting nothing but to be in a safe place and not out in the open running for his life. He ran straight into the industrial sector, his pursuer was closing in though, Takumi was fuel only by adrenaline right now and even that was running its course as his legs began to scream and his lungs squeezed in his chest. When the sound of his pursuer seemed to leave, Takumi slowed slightly, until he realised his ears had tuned out everything but the rushing blood behind them. This fact was realised too late as he felt a body collide with his before they collided with the ground. His ears just barely picked up a voice before his world went black.

 

His eyes opened, his vision blurred, but its was also very dark.

His eyes opened?

“I'm not dead,” His voice confirmed before his brain caught the thought. He shut his mouth so quickly his teeth clacked together painfully, his jaw aching evidently not just from that but from the swelling on the side of his head.

“No you aren't,” a voice cut through the room, “You idiot, what possessed you to enter the Dead-man?”

The voice was cold, scathing, but also jarringly familiar.

“Why's that?” Takumi couldn't see the owner of the voice but he knew who it was and he couldn't decide why he would be there. He tried to turn towards the voice, but he was tightly bound to the chair he had been placed in.

“Answer me first,” he snapped.

“It was a dare,” Takumi admitted after a minute of silence. More silence followed.He heard clipped footsteps come closer and then around him. The level of light in the room allowed him only the silhouette of his captor until he chose to step forward and bend down, grabbing his chin roughly.

“A DARE!?” the yell pierced through Takumi's ears and made his head throb, but the grip on his chin didn't let him look away, “Despicable!” the volume decreased, but the word was clear enough through the snarl. Takumi waited patiently for the hand to release him, but it didn't.

“Well?” he choked out, “Are you going to tell me why I'm not dead?”

The hand tore away and slapped him across the face, “You might not be for much longer if you keep playing stupid,”

“Geez Leo, What do you want from me?” Takumi growled, “I mean as good as it is to see you, I'm kinda running for my life right now, I didn't want this at all,”

Leo seemed to consider that then said, “I wanted a third date,”

Takumi chocked on his words, sputtering shortly, “So you knock me out and tie me up?”

“I wouldn't have had to if you weren't running from me because of a stupid dare,” Leo shot back smoothly, “How else am I supposed to keep you alive?”

“You could'a said something?” Takumi went to shrug, but found he couldn't.

“Yeah because you're running from your best friends in the Hoshido district who would I know would have protected you with their own lives, I didn't think you would stop for the guy you've gone on two dates with,” Leo flipped his head, looking like he was trying to get his bangs out of his eyes.

“Yeah, but we've known each other longer than that,” Takumi pouted.

“Not by much, after the whole custody fiasco over the Valla twins brought our families together, we only really talked because they insisted on it,” Leo shrugged, but stepped closer. Takumi's eyes had now adjusted to the dark enough to see the features of his face. His expression was all worry.

“I'm sorry Leo, I didn't expect to win, I mean what are the odds?” Takumi sighed, “if it makes you feel any better, I initially declined, but then Hinata wouldn't stop pestering me,”

“That really doesn't, why would he dare you to do it?” Leo's eyes narrowed.

“We were out drinking and we were comparing the stupidest thing's we've ever done,” Takumi turned his head, “He gave me a way to one up him, as he always does,”

“Clearly he didn't understand the ramifications,” Leo's voice ran cold, but then he grinned, “He probably feels like shit right now,”

“And my family is probably frantically searching for me,” Takumi groaned, “They have access to security footage all over the city, do you think they'll find me here?”

“By the time they do, it will be over” Leo shook his head, “They will have to secure permissions first and then go through the entire day right from when you left your house to now,”

“I suppose that's true, camera tracking takes a while unless you know for sure where the person you are looking for is and when,” Takumi admitted, “How much longer?”

“As long as I want you here,” a grin flickered across his mouth, Takumi saw it only for a second after he turned back. Takumi waited for him to say, hoping he would just tell him. Leo gave him a strange look before stepping around him, tracing a hand over his shoulders and behind to the nape of his neck, traveling up into his hair. Takumi gulped, not really sure what to expect. Leo pulled the tie from his hair and let the lengthy locks free. Takumi could feel Leo's hands pulling through his hair and then rested on his shoulders.

“I'll see you when your time is up,” Leo's hand left his shoulders.

“No! Wait!” Takumi called out before he heard a door shut behind him. He yelled for a bit more before giving up. Leo had saved his life, instead of taking it and getting the money that he also didn't need. Leo was a good guy, a little high on his own horse, but that ran in the family, Leo's father being the head of the Nohrian district's biggest corporation for architecture. Him and Leo had met through the twins, who were a bit older than them, but once they had gotten to know one another, they went from acquaintances to friends, and then they had seen fit to bring the relationship a step further into dating. Takumi thought then about how Leo had probably felt seeing his face on the lottery watch. Leo wasn't usually emotional, but when he was, it was overwhelming and wonderful at the same time. Leo had likely used all that energy earlier, leaving him logical and calculated. Evidently trapping him had been his best chance, Takumi couldn't tell where he was, so likely anyone looking to kill him was as stumped. He just wish he could be free, the ropes keeping him in the chair were beginning to feel claustrophobic, the events of the day making him anxious and antsy. Leo's statement that he would keep him here as long as he would like crossed his mind, making Takumi shudder, attempting to quash the thought before a bigger one could take its place.

But anxious brains don't always do as they are told as the thought that Leo might still kill him resurface. He might just be biding his time, so that he could secure the kill. People had done that, captured the person, held them till the last minute when everyone starts giving up before dragging their victim into a public space and taking the kill for all to see. We're the rope to keep him here for that purpose? Was Leo going to slit his throat out on the street? Could Leo secretly want him dead?

Takumi struggled against the ropes, if he could just get out, then he could escape a public execution. All his struggles were futile, the rope thick and strong, his movements grew so violent until the chair slipped out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground, knocking the other side of his head painfully against the smooth concrete floor.

The door that was behind him, but now to his left opened quickly, “By the Dragons Takumi, are you trying to kill yourself?” Leo raced to his side, gently righting the chair.

“I won't let you kill me!” Takumi groaned, feeling a bit dizzy from the fall.

“I'm not going to kill you, I'm keeping you safe!” Leo cried, taken aback by the words.

“Then why am I tied up so much?” Takumi asked harshly.

“So you don't get any ideas and try to save yourself, you're horrible at it you know,” Leo knelt down beside him, brushing Takumi's hair to the side to look at his head, “Anyone who tries to drown their suicidal tendencies with alcohol enough to end up in the hospital for alcohol poisoning needs a bit of a tether, or a lot,”

“How did you know that?” Takumi huffed.

“Your sister told me, and before you say anything I asked because I noticed you like to put yourself down,” Leo sighed, then pressed his mouth to Takumi's temple in a kiss.

“I'm just joking,” Takumi brushed it off, having relaxed again, leaning his head into Leo's.

“No you aren't,” Leo took his face in his hands and made Takumi look at him, they were gentle unlike before, “I know people do it sometimes, but you do it too much for it to be a joke, and you always look a tad too serious before you laugh it off,” Takumi said nothing, but his expression fell, looking troubled. Leo gently stroked his face, then tucked his hair behind his ear.

“I can untie you if you want,” Leo said finally, “But let me lock that door first,”

“Don't go again,” Takumi shook his head.

“I won't I realise I was wrong to do that. I thought you would stay and stew, I was unaware you would panic,” Leo stood and turned, walking slowly to the door, closing it and locking it. He reached beside he door and flicked a light on, despite its dimness, Takumi still squeezed his eyes shut against the light.

“Sorry, here. Let me get these ropes off,” Leo said from behind him and he felt the ropes around his body loosen, followed by his legs and arms. Takumi stood carefully, stretching out, but when stars burst across his vision and gravity suddenly became different, he found himself in Leo's arms.

“Head rush,” Takumi grimaced, righting himself with Leo's help.

“And likely a concussion,” Leo grimaced, “I had to knock you out, but falling in that chair probably won't help.

“Concussion is better than an indefinite death sentence,” Takumi mumbled, “Least you won't get charged for assault, though I'm sure there will be people who wonder why you didn't kill me,”

“They will know why,” Leo said softly, leading Takumi to a fold out bed he had not seen before.

“Why then?” Takumi asked incredulously.

Leo sighed exasperatedly, “You must also have short term memory loss, I want to go out with you more, I love you Takumi,”

Takumi shook his head at the proclamation, then laughed weakly, “I guess I do. I suppose it will be two princes now,”

“You're delerious,” Leo set him on the bed.

“Oh hah, yeah, not this time,” Takumi smiled, “Hinata calls me prince sometimes, like having a wealthy family makes me royalty, right? and so I thought about him calling you one too,” Takumi paused thoughtfully, “It kinda fits to be honest,”

Leo quirked an eyebrow before shaking his head and getting onto the bed beside him.

“Funny, one of my bodyguards calls me that too on occasion,” Leo chuckled.

“I can only imagine why,” Takumi chuckled too.

“Quiet you,” Leo said and before Takumi could retort, he closed his lips over the others in a kiss, “we have an hour, how does cuddling sound,”

“As much as I liked running for my life, I'll take it,” Takumi nodded, bringing himself close to Leo, sharing another kiss and another as they settled in to wait for the timer to run down.

 


End file.
